Convention time...

 We just spent 4 wonderful days at the North Dakota Home Educator's Convention!!!  This was our first year of going as a whole family, dad included!!!  We had a suite and it was great.  Here is a bit of one half of the room with two double beds.  The kids worked hard at market and other places earning the money for us to stay so many nights.  I'm proud of them and their giving to our family in this way.

Four kids slept in the King sized bed on the other half of the room.  It was an L-shape room and we had so much room for moving around and preparing food.  Our room had a balcony to the pool so it was nice for the kids and us.  We often walked out and found someone we knew and some new faces to visit with.

 Family share night is a favorite of ours.  Here is the Froemming family sharing their wonderful talents.

 Here are friends of ours.  We did not know they were so talented.  We didn't even know they played and sang!

 Lena in the hottub!

 Gideon!

 Most of the pool was going around and around in a circle getting a whirlpool effect going.  Here is Isaac (in the middle), Caleb (off to the left) and Gideon (above Isaac in the picture).

 Hi Anissa and Dorinda.  We had 3 different potlucks providing lots of opportunity to visit and share what we like about the convention and about what goodies we are finding to do in school.

 This is the last potluck of the convention.  It grew so big, we had it at the civic center instead of around the pool.

 Good friends!  April, Tina, Kathy and Kim!  Loved seeing them so much this weekend.

 Today, we ended our time with friends by going to Pizza Ranch and eating!  Emily and friend Hope are shown here.

 We met Camille at the last home school convention.  Here she is visiting with Jordan.

Our last goodbyes!  It was a long goodbye.  We had such a good time with everyone and everyone seemed reluctant to let it end. 

Rebekah made a new friend, Anna.  It was good to see Anna, her sisters Camille, Andrea and brothers and mother at the convention.  They lost their 15 year old daughter/sister a few weeks ago in a vehicle accident and they are still hurting from this loss.  April (mother) shared quite a lot with us and my heart cries out for the pain they are experiencing.  Please pray for God's blessings on this family.  They are a great testimony of how God gives strength to those who trust in him. 

Here are some details that we were given in an email.  There is a way to help this family if you have the desire to.  Please pray for them though! 

The Litfin family homeschools their children in Williston. Their fifteen year old daughter was killed in a car accident on February 14^th.

Below is a news article from the February 16th Williston Herald.
A fatal car accident occurred Tuesday night on U.S. Highway 85 near Arnegard, according to North Dakota Highway Patrol report. Amy Renea Litfin was pronounced dead at the scene.
The driver of a 2003 Chevy pickup, Allen Ray Evenson, 25, of Richey, Mont., lost control on the snow and ice-covered roadway. The pickup turned sideways on the road and crossed the center line.
A 2003 GMC Savana van, driven by Camille Dawn Litfin, 21, of Williston, was traveling west with four passengers, Amy Renea Litfin, 15, Anna Litfin, 12, Caleb Litfin, 10, and Christian Litfin, 7.
When the pickup crossed the center line, the van struck the pickup's rear passenger side.


Please pray for them during this difficult time.
If you feel led to assist this family, checks can be made out to Liftin Family Benefit Fund and sent to this address:
Liftin Family Benefit Fund
Gate City Bank
P.O. Box 878
Williston, ND 58801

Market CSA's

I know some of my "readers" are in the area so I'm going to let you know about a local opportunity you or a friend of yours have to get fresh produce each week without having to grow it yourself.  CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  A CSA is a partnership between the farmer and the consumer.  You purchase a CSA share from the producer (me or someone else at the market) and you get 5 or 10 pounds of fresh picked produce each week for 10 weeks.  A full-share costs $200 for 10 weeks averaging 10 pounds per week.  A half-share is $105 for 10 weeks averaging 5 pounds per week.  The Twin-Town's Farmer's Market (Wahpeton, ND) has several more shares available at this price.  After March 31st, the price increases to $225 and $120 respectively.  You can request more of some produce and request that none of certain produce be included.   There are lots of options: adding fresh eggs for  $25 (full) and $13 (half), Bread $70 (full, 2 loaves/week), $37 (half, 1 loaf/week), Beef or pork share, chicken share or even add rabbits to your fresh, local CSA (these are all optional).  The best thing is your produce is fresh picked, local and hasn't been picked before it is ready and ridden in a truck across hundreds of miles.  Most people pick up their CSA at the market Thursdays starting in July from 4-7 p..m but if you were to sign up with our farm for yours we could work out a delivery plan if you are in the area. 

If you know anyone interested you can direct them to me by phone or to  www.twintownsmarket.org.

What a beautiful day...

 We enjoyed our day by working outside a WHOLE MONTH before we would normally even begin thinking about it.  70 plus degrees was wonderful!   We got manure spread on half the high tunnel ground and Kevin is seen here tilling it in. Green grass is growing there in the middle.

 Here's a picture of Kevin tilling in the asparagus patch and way in the back is a merry-go-round full of kids.  We had 4 extras here today and they enjoyed playing outside most of the day!  :)

 I got 3 rows planted in the tunnel.  I got three kinds of beans, two kinds of beets, spinach, 2 kinds of lettuce, and 3 kinds of summer squash.  I sure hope they come up!  It was over 100 degrees in there today and we had to roll up one of the sides to get some air.

 Here are the completed rows.  I left a space in the way back for some strawberries I'm going to plant and the row on the far left is going to be cucumbers and peas when we get the trellis situated correctly.  The lines are soaker hoses.  Tomorrow I have to get the outside hoses hooked up and get it watered well.

I am attempting to grow some plants in containers.  I planted some cucumbers and zucchini last week and here they are tall and spindly.  I planted some tomatoes and peppers today.  I don't do very well planting them this way so I hate to spend the money trying but thought the tunnel might give me better success.  I hope!

Everyday life...

 One of the best breakfasts we have had in awhile.  We made almond flour muffins with zucchini and squash.  We cooked blueberries, added a bit of honey and poured it over the warm muffins and topped it with yogurt!

 Jordan made home made butter this week.  We had some on our leftover muffins.  It is white butter, must be the fat content of the cow's milk we got.  It is wonderfully tasty.

I caught Jordan watching her butter in the mixer.  I thought it was cute!  We whip the cream in the mixer until it becomes butter.  It spatters a bit so we cover it up.

 

Yesterday, during school, I looked down at Rebekah writing in her assignment book and what did I find behind her?  Lena tucked in the chair sitting with her sissy.  One reason I love to home school.  Moments like this!!!

Monday...

 I implemented a D.E.A.R. program at our house so that I could walk on the treadmill at least once a day.  Usually I try walking when kids are getting going in the morning and doing chores and starting school.  I end up getting on and off the treadmill a few times and even talk so much to kids about school that I'm out of breath to finish my walking!!!  When I was in elementary school they started the D.E.A.R. program and I loved it!  You never knew exactly when they would announce it (I think once a week or else once a month) but it stands for Drop Everything And Read.  We now have D.E.A.R. for 15 minutes while I walk and I walk in peace!!   :)  It's so great and the kids love it like I did when I was a kid. 

 Egg Fu Yung.  This was lunch yesterday on our "diet".  I ground raw chicken in my food processor, shredded about a cup of carrots, chopped an onion and added 6 eggs, mixed it all up and fried it on the griddle.  The kids really liked them and would have eaten more but there was only one per kid.  We had it with mixed veggies and warm applesauce sprinkled with cinnamon! 

For supper I made spinach roll-ups, another one of our favorite foods on this diet.  We cooked up hamburger with onions and peppers and cumin, salt, pepper and garlic.  We steamed a package of spinach.  We added these together in the food processor and blended.  We made crepes with eggs and coconut oil  and put the filling in the crepes and topped with avocado and salsa and yogurt.  Mmm!  Emily made these squash buttons.  They were just squash, eggs, cinnamon and honey.  The kids ate all of the food up and we had no left overs :(

Kitchen duty...

 W spent our day in the kitchen.  I think the skin on my hands is wearing away!!!!  We started the GAPS diet again to improve our eating and I forgot how much work it is.  First we drank a cup of chicken broth (10 mugs plus spoons for some), I roasted two chickens in the roaster, made the bones into broth, made 2 pans of home made jello, Jordan juiced lemons for all of us to drink lemon water throughout the day, then scrambled eggs and fresh made applesauce (Jordan peeled and cut up) for breakfast, Emily made two different pans of brownies, one for a snack and the other for supper, then peeled carrots and cut up chicken for chicken soup I made for lunch, then made up the home made mayo for the chicken nugget recipe for supper, I also made yogurt this morning and 3 jars of beet kvass (peeled and cut up the beets), made the nuggets and heated up green beans (making 3 jars to wash).  One batch of mayo did work and the second didn't so tried for about 1/2 hour getting it right to no avail and then washed all the stuff again!!!!  Jordan said the other day, "The only thing allowed on the diet is dishes!"  Amen to that!  The diet cuts out all grains, potatoes, corn, sugar and anything processed, just food in its natural, God-given state.  The worst downfall is that every single little step produces a sinkful of dirty dishes. 

 The first batch of mayo worked out great, a little too much cayenne pepper but a few of us enjoyed eating it on the chicken nuggets.  It also went in the nuggets before baking.

 I got a little overzealous making beet kvass.  I thought I was making a gallon and then realized I cut up enough beets for 2 gallons.  Beet kvass cleans your liver, purifies your blood and aids in digestion.  I drink it every morning and night!  I used some golden beets along with the red ones.  It is pretty right now.  I assume the whole thing will turn more red as it sits.  

One nut butter brownie was made with squash (the not burnt looking one) and the other needed less baking time.  We really like these brownies.  We made them with almond butter, honey, baking soda and eggs and the one has some squash added to it. 

My handy dandy food processor that Kevin's sister Dorene gave us for our wedding helped make the chicken into a paste like substance. 

They look pretty good here but I didn't care for them much.  Everyone liked them well enough except Lena.  They were better with the mayo on them.  Tomorrow we start all over again!!!  There is no such thing as leftovers on this diet!!!!   I have the next couple days planned out so that helps (a little).  Have a great week!